The New Carnival Company has been awarded a grant of £9,900 from the Heritage Lottery Fund for its 2015 Isle of Wight Mardi Gras parade, entitled The Magna Carta Mardi Gras.
The theme has been developed as part of the Houses of Parliament 2015 Historic Anniversaries programme which is celebrating 800 years since the sealing of Magna Carta and 750 years since the Simon de Montfort Parliament. The Magna Carta Mardi Gras will be part of the official UK wide celebrations programme entitled Parliament in the Making.
The Heritage Lottery grant will support 10 of the 25 schools and groups taking part to enrich their experience by carrying out research and investigations into how their chosen theme relates to local IW democratic heritage. The grant will enable the 10 schools to access additional support from the New Carnival Company throughout their projects and to develop their learning into spectacular carnival costumes for the parade. The work will form part of an exhibition and archive after the event.
Schools that will benefit from the grant include Queensgate Primary School in Whippingham, who are presenting The Suffragette movement; Holy Cross Primary School in Cowes, presenting The Peasant’s Revolt; Oakfield School in Ryde, presenting Freedom of the Press and Free Speech and St George’s Special School presenting Racial Equality.
Ryde Junior School, who will be taking the Magna Carta lead position in the parade, have launched their project this week with several activities including a visit from the Lord Lieutenant; a Year 4 visit to Kings Quay to discover the site where King John is said to have fled after sealing Magna Carta; children trying to write with ‘quills’ (straws) and various debates and investigations into liberty.
The New Carnival Company’s Creative Director Frankie Goldspink said:
“We are so grateful to the Heritage Lottery for supporting our Magna Carta Mardi Gras. This is a ground breaking project, taking carnival right into the curriculum through subject areas such as History, Citizenship and discovering local Heritage. The grant will help us to create a carnival parade which is not only spectacular, but intelligent, relevant and thought provoking too.”
The Magna Carta Mardi Gras takes place on Saturday 27th June, 15:00 on the streets of Ryde. The project is already attracting national attention.
For more info contact Frankie Goldspink, The New Carnival Company CIC on 01983 716095 / [email protected].
